Please, Cyclops, Don't Hit 'Em
by Latvian Ice
Summary: Todd is accidently hit by Scott's car.


Please, Cyclops, Don't Hit 'Em  
  
By Latvian Ice  
  
"Wah" = spoken  
  
'Wah' = thought  
  
Author's note: I put together a one-shot challenge over at the Yahoo group X of Evolution, and that is the reason for this. We each suggested a one-shot idea that we would like to see someone else write, and then the ideas were randomly given out to everyone participating. I got Maikafuiniel's idea, "Todd is hit by Scott's car by accident."  
  
Another author's note: I've been listening to MC Hammer. The name of the tape that has "U Can't Touch This" is Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em, and that's where the title comes from.  
  
And yet another: This is my first piece of completed fanfiction, and would greatly appreciate any constructive criticism.  
  
-X-  
  
Late! Always late! Scott checked the clock again as he rummaged through his backpack. 5:23. He was supposed to be at the airport by 5:30 to pick up Alex, but his cell phone was nowhere to be found.  
  
'Shouldn't you have left by now, Scott?'  
  
"Wah!" Scott jumped back, surprised, even though the voice was calm and even. The surprising part was that he could hear the voice of Professor Charles Xavier, clear as his own thoughts, but knew for a fact that the man was busy at Cerebro, searching for new mutants to recruit.  
  
Scott sighed, wondering if and when he'd ever get used to having the Professor slipping into his thoughts on occasion. 'Yeah, I know,' Scott thought back, 'but I can't find my cell phone and what something happens and-'  
  
'You forget,' Xavier interrupted telepathically, 'that I can be reached anytime, anyplace. No need for electronics.'  
  
'Oh! Right! I'll just go then!' Scott threw his backpack into his closet again and set out for his car.  
  
He was very proud of his car- a bright red convertible with two white stripes running from back to front. He kept his car sparkling clean, inside and out. Food and muddy shoes were strictly prohibited, as well as Kurt during his shedding season.  
  
But as proud as he was of his beautiful clean car, he was even more proud of his driving capabilities. He remembered fondly the day he took his written driving exam. He hadn't gotten a single question wrong. An A was rare for Scott; no matter how hard he tried, he always seemed to be a plain A student.  
  
And, of course, he had a clean driving record, too. Though the convertible had been blown up on several occasions during battle, he had never been in a real driving accident with him behind the wheel. And he wasn't about to let that change.  
  
He adjusted his mirrors so he could see perfectly and buckled his seatbelt. He put his hands at exactly ten and two o'clock. He pulled out of the long driveway extremely carefully and when he got out on the streets of Bayville, drove at exactly twenty-five miles per hour, as the street sign told him to. After all, speeding is against the law. And Scott was a law-abiding citizen, being an X-Man and all.  
  
He parked carefully at the Bayville airport. Scott wished that he could have flown to Hawaii to pick up his brother himself. Wolverine was teaching him how to fly the X-Jet. Unfortunately, Mrs. Masters flat-out refused. Her neighbors were beginning to ask questions about the jet that continually landed itself in the Masters' back yard. Alex was sent on a regular boring plane from Hawaii to Bayville.  
  
Scott chewed his lip nervously as he ran into the airport. It was already six o'clock. But surely, the plane would have been late, too, right? No need to worry?  
  
He saw Alex sitting alone in one of the airport's chairs, swishing his feet back and forth. Scott saw that he was quite short, something he had never noticed before.  
  
"Alex, hey!"  
  
Alex picked up his suitcases and came towards him. He wasn't smiling. "You're late..."  
  
Scott fidgeted nervously with the zipper on his jacket. "Yeah, I'm really sorry, but I couldn't find my cell phone and then the Professor came and talked in my head and then I remembered that I don't really need a cell phone so then I drove here and there was all this traffic, but I got here!" He paused to catch his breath. "And I thought your plane would be late."  
  
"It was early."  
  
Scott followed Alex out to the car. He was confused by his brother's behavior. No hugs? What was wrong?  
  
Alex threw his bags in the backseat and jumped over the door and into the passenger's seat. Scott thought that this was a very cool thing to do (why hadn't ever thought of doing it himself?) and wanted to imitate his brother, but knew he'd injure himself in the process and climbed in the regular way, using the door. Alex did not speak as Scott started the car and drove carefully towards Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Scott finally broke the silence.  
  
"Something wrong, bro?"  
  
Alex fished a copper penny from his pocket and flipped it over and over in his fingers. He took his time replying. "Being in that plane reminded me of before." Scott did not need to ask what 'before' meant. "And then you weren't there. You were supposed to be there, man."  
  
Scott wanted to look at the floor in shame, but he felt it best to have his eyes on the road. "Alex, I'm really, really sorry. I didn't mean to be late, honest. What'd make it up to you? A training session in the Danger Room, just you and me?"  
  
Alex half-smiled at Scott's love of the Danger Room. "No..."  
  
"Then what? I'll do anything, I promise!" Scott pleaded, wishing only for his brother's forgiveness.  
  
"Well..."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
Alex gave Scott a genuine smile and brought one of his bags from the backseat to him. He fished out a cassette. "Can we put in MC Hammer?"  
  
-X-  
  
"Scott."  
  
Silence. Scott was not listening, but instead snapping his fingers to the music. "Hammer time!" shouted MC Hammer from the stereo, and Scott began to dance as well as he could manage while sitting down. Somehow, the car managed to stay on the road.  
  
Alex had been dancing in his seat, too, but he stopped when he thought of the potential trouble Scott could get them into if he didn't drive carefully. "Scott!" Alex repeated. "Don't you think you should, like, be watching the road, you know?" He tugged on Scott's shirtsleeve.  
  
Scott pulled his arm away and (thank God, thought Alex) grabbed the steering wheel again. "U can't touch this!" Scott laughed at his joke. "And that's spelled with just a U. Get it? 'Cause that's how MC Hammer spells it!" He laughed again, feeling happier than he'd felt in a long time. Sitting next to his once-long-lost brother, the wind rushing through his hair, the music cranked up- all of this made him forget all the rules for once in his life, and he felt free.  
  
They were nearing the mansion when Alex saw something on the road. He squinted, trying to figure out what it was. A dog? As they came closer, Alex suddenly realized, too late, what it was. "Scott, there's a dude on the road!" yelped Alex as he made a grab for the steering wheel, trying to avoid the person.  
  
"Alex, what did I tell you? U can't touch-"  
  
THUD.  
  
"Yo!"  
  
Scott slammed on the brakes. He knew who he'd hit. Todd Tolensky. Scott got out of the car slowly and flopped down in the grass by the road. Alex scrambled out and sat beside him. They both ignored Todd, clearly unhurt and scowling, sitting not far away.  
  
Scott was in a state of shock, his eyes staring straight in front of him. His clean driving record... gone! In a matter of seconds! And it wasn't just some minor offense, like speeding or running a stop sign, but hitting a guy! He closed his eyes, trying to wish his problems away.  
  
"Dude..." Alex said softly under his breath. "You hit a guy..."  
  
Scott rubbed his forehead. He could feel a stress headache coming on. "Thanks for stating the obvious."  
  
Todd overheard the conversation. "You hit me!" He stood up and looked down at his knees. "Yo! You ripped my jeans!"  
  
"How can you tell?" Alex asked, noticing that Todd's jeans were full of holes of various sizes.  
  
Todd ignored his question and walked towards Scott, his hands on his hips. "You hit me and you ripped my jeans!" He caught the look on Alex's face and added, "Again." He turned back to Scott. "Can't you watch where you're driving, fool?"  
  
Suddenly, Scott became angry and his cheeks flushed, matching the color of his sunglasses. "Let me remind you that the road is for cars. Not pedestrians. You weren't even in a crossing zone! What do you think you were doing?"  
  
"There was a quarter on the road."  
  
Scott grabbed his hair in his hands, frustrated. "A quarter? You were so preoccupied with a quarter that you couldn't even listen for cars coming?"  
  
"You got a quiet car," Todd said, shrugging. "Anyway," he continued indignantly, "we Brotherhood Boys ain't as rich as you X-Geeks."  
  
"But still. A quarter?" Scott raised an eyebrow.  
  
Todd put on a very sad (and very fake, Scott thought) face. "We need every penny we can get. 'Specially now, since I'll be needing a new pair of jeans."  
  
Alex began turning out his pockets, fishing for change. He held out a few dollars worth of coins to Todd.  
  
"Alex, don't," Scott said, holding his arm out in front of his brother, but Alex pushed his way forward. He handed it to Todd, who didn't hesitate to take it from him.  
  
Todd counted the money slowly in his cupped palm. "Hmm..." Todd put a long finger to his lips in thought. "This is almost enough to make me not wanna press charges."  
  
"Pr-press charges?" Scott choked. "No, don't! Tell me what you want, I'll do anything!"  
  
Todd paused a moment, thinking. "I want a new pair of jeans. And a ride home."  
  
"That's it?" Scott asked suspiciously. He was sure Todd would blackmail him. Then again, having a dirty guy like Todd in his clean car would be bad enough...  
  
"Yep," Todd responded. He followed Scott and Alex into the car. "Oh, there is one more thing you can do for me," he said from the back seat of the red convertible. He was leaning forward so that his head was between Scott and Alex. The younger brother gagged at the smell.  
  
Scott knew that this would finally be the catch, but Todd's response both surprised him and filled him with a sense of dread. It reminded him of how he'd gotten himself into this whole mess to start with.  
  
Todd held a Vanilla Ice cassette between his fingers. "You have to play this."  
  
-Das Ende-  
  
Author's note: There is a slight reference to Lily Handle's "Penny For Your Thoughts" in this. Can you find it?  
  
Author's note (sorry, this is the last one, I SWEAR!): All -X-'s stolen from Scrawler. Sorry, Scrawler, but you know how I love 'em. 


End file.
